On 2/5/06, Jon Lincicum <lincicum at comcast.net> wrote: > Davdi Silverrock wrote: > > >Continuing with this pararectal conceit, I find myself wondering what > >her thoughts were on being given a commission to assassinate someone > >named "Taltos". Did she wonder if it was a sign that Vlad was > >unkillable? Did she have some half-hope that he would prove to be a > >similar support of political change in Dragaera that Bolk was in > >Fenario? Might that have been part of why she found herself attracted > > > > > Or maybe it's just a name. > > If a special forces assassin happened to be handed the name of a > terrorist leader whose last name was "Goodman", would the assassin > refuse to carry out the assignment, just because the person was a :"good > man"? I'm not sure I hold this notion so strongly as to want to defend it, but I think it deserves a little more clarification. In this case, the analogy is more along the lines of an assassin in our world who has become interested in Christianity, say, and has written a fictionalized life of Jesus, being given a target whose name is Jesus. Nor am I saying that she would have "refused" to carry out the assignment; I recall from the books how very determined she was to carry it out. It's just that it might affect how she thinks of him. Maybe. Or maybe not. > > If Cawti even took notice of Vlad's last name, she probably just assumed > that he'd picked that name out for himself when his family moved to > Adrilankha. (Which may, indeed, be what happened. Noish-Pa might have > thought that was a fitting patronymic for his family when he took the > wife and kids and moved out west. Especially if Nosih-Pa has been living > under an assumed name, which I suspect may be the case.) > > This brings up the point of Vlads baronetcy. Did it exist before Vlad's > father bought it? According to the conversation with Paresh in /Teckla/, > Vlad says it's a "real place with 2 or 3 families living there." > "Taltos" sure seems like an unusual name for a Dragaeran to give to a > region, which makes me suspect that the region was named after Vlad (or > rather, after his father) rather than vice versa. No, no. Noish-pa's name is also Taltos, and he did not buy citizenship (and Vlad's dad's citizenship does not appear to extend to parents). I think Vlad uses "Taltos" out of deference/respect for his Grandfather. I presume the baronetcy that Vlad owns is not used as part of his name. Although perhaps the baronetcy has been named Taltos, now that you mention it. Note that Vlad never refers to himself as being Count Szurke, either, although he has the excuse of being on the run for that. > > I think Cawti knew what she was getting into with Vlad. That one > conversation they have in /Yendi/ when Vlad takes her to the party at > Castle Black lays out pretty clearly where Vlad stands on things. I'd > like to point out, that at *that* point, Cawti herself didn't appear to > be especially *politically* active, either. That came later. > > On a tangent, to me, the fact that Cawti was an assassin and not very > politically motivated prior to meeting Kelly makes me think that if she > really *is* the author of /Brokedown Palace/, she doesn't write it until > after Vlad had left home. (Maybe that's one of the things she's been > doing during Vlad's absence?) > That's also reasonable. We may find out in August...